Pure Imagination
by V2 Schneider
Summary: This is a very short snapshot of a moment in Willy Wonka's childhood which takes place immediately after he discovers that his father is gone.


Willy Wonka stood and stared at the blank space where his house had once stood, he dropped his bag to the floor and gasped in disbelief.

"I won't be here when you come back!" His father's last, incredibly literal and angry words to Willy before he left the house in search of chocolate filled dreams. Dr Wonka was a harsh man but even little Willy would not have believed that those words, uttered in a moment of ill temper would be so final. As he stared at the hole in the row of houses, the brick work crumbling and the dust still drifting through the air, Willy Wonka couldn't help but wonder what he was supposed to do now!

The light was beginning to fade, a grey blanket bringing the day to its inevitable conclusion, Willy Wonka picked up his bag and took one last lingering look at the place he'd called home before he started uncertainly down the street. It was cold and Willy had nothing more to wear than the shorts and blazer he had stepped out of the house in earlier that day. He thought of friends he could visit, people and places who might offer warmth in the slowly dawning absence of love that had just become his world. But Willy Wonka felt like a ghost, something distant and fading which did not belong seated in front of warm glowing fires, sharing the food and company of those who existed in a world which had just turned him away.

He walked for what seem liked forever until darkness fell and the stars twinkled white in the midnight sky, he was cold and hungry, tired and a little bit frightened. He found a doorway set well back from the pavement, gloomy and disused but so suitably out of the elements that he sank wearily to the floor and pressed himself hard against the wall. He reached inside his bag and pulled out a dark purple box of chocolates, his note pad and a pencil. The only light he had to work by was the pearl white glow of a full moon in the clear sky, he reached his hand into the box and pulled out a dark chocolate cube with a swirl of milk chocolate on top. Maneuvering his hand around his dental braces, Willy Wonka carefully placed the chocolate in his mouth and let it dissolve on his tongue. At first his mouth was filled with the rich, slightly burnt taste of the dark chocolate as it melted into a cream and dissolved into a fabulous rush of liquid caramel and walnuts. He quickly scribbled the verdict on his notepad before taking another chocolate and placing it in his mouth, dark chocolate followed by such a bitter tang of orange that it sent a shiver down his spine. He made his notes, marked it out of ten then lifted the lid of the box to clearly see how many chocolates were left, there were not many so he closed his notepad and pressed the lid firmly back on the box then tucked it all away into his bag. Pulling his blazer tight around him, he rested his head on his bag and stared at the moon, tears welled up in his eyes but he did not cry, finally he gave in to sheer exhaustion and drifted off to sleep.

"Come in my dear boy before you catch your death!" Willy Wonka looked up and saw a tall, pale man in a purple top hat beaming down at him. He scrambled to his feet and paused a moment before he stepped through the large black door and into a long faded green corridor. He heard the door slam behind him and turned around to thank the man for letting him in but there was nobody there.

"Don't just stand there, we haven't got all day you know!" Willy turned to see the man stood at the other end of the red carpeted corridor, he was quite something to behold, tall and thin wearing a perfectly tailored black suit, the jacket of which buttoned so high up the neck that he looked almost sealed into his clothes. Willy walked along the corridor to the man who, after a good deal of rummaging in his pocket, pulled out a ring of keys and when he'd found the tiniest key he bent down to what seemed to be the smallest door that Willy Wonka had ever seen. The man twisted the key into the hole and the entire wall opened out before them into a verdant, beautiful fantasy of bright colours. The smell hit almost as fast as the colour, the warm smell of chocolate wrapped itself around Willy and he stood for a moment with his eyes closed breathing the heavy aroma deep into his lungs.

"This . . . ." began the man.

"is the chocolate room." Finished Willy Wonka as he opened his eyes and exhaled. He stepped onto the path and noticed the cracked candy shell that made the paving .

"Why, have you been here before!" Exclaimed the man.

"No sir." The man smiled a great white grin at Willy and began to walk down the path.

"Good, because if you had there wouldn't seem much point me telling you about my factory now would there?"

"No sir." Willy shook his head vigorously.

"Good, then let us begin!" The room was so fragrant, so very bright that Willy was almost overcome by the excitement.

"It's all candy." He exclaimed to the tall man. "Everything in here, everything you touch is a piece of candy."

"Why yes."

"How come?"

"Because. . . . " Began the man. "This is the most amazing factory in the entire world and I am the greatest Chocolatier that there ever will be! Why, this factory will make so many sweets and delectable treats that people will barely be able to believe what they're eating. Ice cream that never melts, gobstoppers that never get any smaller, exploding sweets, cavity filling caramels to keep the dentist away! Magic hand fudge, you know what the trick is to magic hand fudge? Well do ya!" Willy, his face alight with anticipation shook his head, the man smiled a very pleasant, warm grin and giggled. "Of course you don't my dear boy, you've not invented it yet, but trust me, when you do it's going to be such a surprise." The man started to walk down the path, Willy quickly followed. "I want to show you something. The river is hot melted chocolate and the waterfall over there is what mixes the chocolate, know why I use a waterfall to mix my chocolate? No! Well the waterfall makes the chocolate light and fluffy, if you want the best chocolate then waterfall is the only way." Willy looked up at the tall man who stood looking into the distance at something unseen.

"This factory." Began Willy. "This is your home!" The man turned to face him, he raised an eyebrow and said nothing. "Where are your family?"

"I don't have any." He whispered as he began to walk away.

"Then you're here all on your own!" The man stopped by a candy cane tree and said nothing, he didn't turn to face the young boy in the unsightly brace as he walked closer to him. "If it's just you and all these sweets then that means that I never see my father again, I never get to go home again!" Willy stopped and stared at the mans back.

"No." A fragile whisper faltered in the air.

"Oh!" Muttered Willy into his chest. The man coughed, glanced over his shoulder and saw Willy sit himself sullenly down on the floor.

"It's not that bad." He began. "You're going to grow up to be me, the greatest Chocolatier the world has ever known and this factory, there's more here than just this room, why this factory is everything you could ever hope to imagine, it's everything you could ever dare to dream."

"But . . . . !" Willy woke with a start, his back was aching and his legs were so cold they were numb. He pulled his knees tight into his chest and wrapped his arms around them trying to warm himself up, as he did so he became aware of someone watching him. The white light of the moon bounced off the man's tattered top hat.

"Here." He said walking up to Willy and draping his plum coat over him. "You'll catch your death of cold out here dressed in so little." Willy looked up at the man but couldn't see his face, he nodded a thank you as the man stepped away. "Don't worry." He said as he started down the street. "You won't always be on your own, before you know it Charlie will be here."


End file.
